Values are those things that really matter to each of us ... the ideas and beliefs we hold as special, not something you want or would like to have.Caring for others, for example, is a value; so is the freedom to express our opinions.

A value is a principle desirable to you. Values are personal. They are your convictions, your beliefs, and your ethics rolled into one.

Living in agreement with one's values is fulfilling. Living in conflict with one's values is stressful and dissatisfying. That's why it is so important to clearly understand your own personal code of values; your happiness depends upon not only knowing your values, but living in accordance with them.Be Stress FreeStress does not result from hard work, long hours, or multiple roles in life. Stress results from values conflicts. When put in a situation where you are unable to honor a value, you will feel stressed out. No amount of relaxation, meditation, or exercise will eliminate the stress until the values conflict is resolved.

Living Your PurposeWhy is it important to understand your own personal values? Values are linked to purpose in life. You might say that your purpose is to live your values. When you do, life is good.

“Twenty years from now you will be
more disappointed by the things
you didn't do than by the
ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~Mark Twain

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.Dale Carnegie

Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.Robert Ingersoll

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them.Louisa May Alcott

Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.Erik H. Erikson

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure but from hope to hope.Samuel Johnson

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.Orison Swett Marden

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.Winston Churchill

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.Emily Dickenson

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so indispensable, none so powerful, as hope. Without hope men are only half alive. With hope they dream and think and work.Charles Sawyer

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.Confucious

Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds, above the storms, if you only let them.William James

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.Richard David Bach

Hope is the dream of a waking man.Aristotle

Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success; for who so hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.Samuel Smiles

This weekend, our family will join millions of others in celebrating America. We will enjoy the glow of fireworks, the taste of barbeque, and the company of good friends. As we all celebrate this weekend, let's also remember the remarkable story that led to this day.

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.

Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty -- a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation's course. America's greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom -- and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.

As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us.

So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm's way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.

With very best wishes,

President Barack Obama

July 4th, 2009

P.S. -- Our nation's birthday is also an ideal time to consider serving in your local community. You can find many great ideas for service opportunities near you at http://www.serve.gov